MIDLAND Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) men's and women's cross country programs competed at the Northwood Invite on Saturday with the men's team placing second overall as a team while the women's team placed fourth overall.
Men
Ethan Nachazel (East Jordan, Mich.) paced the way for the Lakers in the men's 6k, crossing the finish line with a time of 20:17.20 which was good enough to place 13th overall. His brother Aaron Nachazel (East Jordan, Mich.) was not far behind, completing the race with a final mark 20:26.10, narrowly edging out teammate Reese Camp (Highland, Mich.) by 1.7 seconds with the pair placing 16th and 17th, respectively. Ryan O'Neill was the next to finish for LSSU with a time of 21:05.70, and he was followed by freshmen Derrian Kumfer (Romeo, Mich.), who was making his collegiate debut, and Sam Markle (Berrien Springs, Mich.) who each garnered respective times of 21:11.00 and 21:21.10. Senior Roy Bowman (Jerome, Mich.) would then complete the race approximately 20 seconds later with a time of 21:39.80. Skylar WIlliams (Battle Creek, Mich.) and Riley Sponseller (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) rounded out the lineup with respective times of 22:23.60 and 22:59.50.
As a team, the Lakers had a strong outing, with their top-five performers earning their team a second place finish overall with 68 points and an average time of 20:55.
Women
Sydney Kapushinski (Imlay City, Mich.) finished first among her teammates for the second-consecutive race in the women's 5k with a new personal record time of 21:20.90. True freshman Nora Smoes (Reed City, Mich.) was the next to cross the finish line for the Lakers with a time of 21:36.60, and redshirt-freshman Julie Sheehy (Walkerville, Mich.) would complete the race shortly thereafter with a time of 21:58.70. Freshmen Keira Lamming (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) and Olivia Peter (Unionville, Mich.) would finish fourth and fifth respectively among Laker runners with respective times of 22:20.10 and 22:31.50, and approximately six seconds later, Kara Mosher (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) wrapped up her best 5k of her collegiate career with a personal best time of 22:37.80. Sarah McDaniel (Manistique, Mich.), Gwen Phillips (Cadillac, Mich.), and Olivia Stevens (Grand Haven, Mich.) rounded out the lineup for the Lakers with respective times of 23:35.30, 24:11.40, and 24:36.50.
The Lakers' top-five performers on the day completed the race in an average time of 21:57 for 109 points and a fourth place finish as a team.
The Lakers will now prepare for the annual Red October meet, hosted by Saginaw Valley State, on Saturday, Sept. 30.